Adventure Awaits! Huzzah! 28

Himmel had a conundrum to face.

He couldn’t exactly ignore the voices in his head, because even if they were harmless right now, that could change in the future. And, possibly due to his past-life as a modern man, he didn’t think he could just… tough it all out like some action movie hero. His brain was apparently wired differently from other people, and he would just need to accept that.

However, he also really didn’t want to talk about it in front of Deirdre and Julia. He just didn’t feel comfortable with it. So, until he was alone with the brats again, he would keep his mouth shut.

Even if his sister was clearly worried. “Did you really run out just because of that?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know it sounds strange, but I can’t exactly piss Grust’s soldiers if I want to keep living.”

His excuse had been a simple one: Himmel said he had heard soldiers calling him, and wanting to be a good boy he went towards the sounds as quickly as possible. This definitely wasn’t the best excuse ever made, but it was better than telling Julia why he had actually run. At least for now.

Though he could see she and Deirdre still had it on their minds even as they ate and then began heading back to their momentary home. 

And of course, that didn’t apply to just them, but to Celica too. “Hmmmm…” His future queen hummed with a tone that basically screamed she knew it was bullshit.

He was planning to talk about it with her, damn it! Couldn’t she just wait for a few more moments!? Ugh, he really did hope she could do something about his problem, she was the most competent Priestess he knew, after all.

Hey, they had magic that shot fire and smited monsters, surely it wasn’t much to ask for magic that could treat mental illnesses? It was probably too much, actually…

At that moment of weakness, a light of salvation came at him. “Himmel! I am glad we have run into each other!” A pissed off light of salvation.

It was Clair, she must have been going back to the inn just like them, so them running into each other was a nice coincidence. Himmel said nice, because even though she looked mad, that anger didn’t seem particularly directed at him. The noblewomen must have had a tough day then.

Well, Himmel felt much the same, all things considered.

He awkwardly waved at her. “Oh, hey Clair…”

She basically stormed towards them. “Well, has your day been productive, Himmel?” Hm? There was definitely something wrong with her.

While Himmel hesitated, Celica stepped forward and answered the girl’s question. “We haven’t made much progress towards our actual goal, but I would say it was overall a good day.” For her. Because she didn’t suddenly start hearing voices.

Clair forced a smile on her face. “I am elated to hear that, Celica.” It was clear that referring to Celica so casually strained at her, but she couldn’t call the girl a princess in front of Deirdre and Julia.

The truth is that Himmel doubted Julia… or Deirdre, probably, would do anything with that information, but with things like this, it was better to be careful. So as long as his friends didn’t reveal it, neither would he.

Clair continued. “Well, now that pleasantries have been exchanged, it is time I tell you what Alm has been up to.” Ah, her anger was definitely related to him. “He has joined the arena. In fact, he should currently be fighting in the arena.”

“He has what!?” Himmel almost choked and died on the spot.

As it turns out, the biggest problem that he would face today would not even be his developing mental illness, but Alm being a dumbass of all things. Considering it had been a long time since Alm had caused troubles, that actually came as a surprise.

Clair crossed her arms, now that she was actually talking about what Alm had done, a sense of accomplishment was going through her body. “Alm, fool that he is, has decided to sign up to the arena. And worst of all, due to a stroke of luck— or misfortune, I suppose, he starts today, he might even be fighting today.”

“That’s…” Not good. Not good at all.

Even as they wasted time talking, Alm could be getting hurt. Hell, for all they knew he had already gotten himself killed.

But… Himmel had decided to not interfere in everyone’s actions after his talk with Clair and Kliff. Sure, he thought Alm was being incredibly stupid, but the boy knew how to fight. Had been trained to do so ever since his balls began to drop. So did Himmel have any right to tell him to stop—

Celica growled. “That’s awful. Take us there, Clair. I will drag that idiot away from the arena by the ear if necessary.” Welp, his queen had spoken.

With her authorization, Himmel could scold Alm for being a dumbass all he wanted. What a beautiful world he lived in.

Clair bowed. “As you wish.” He imagined she was feeling the same way he was.

Before they could begin moving however, Deirdre interjected. “Excuse me… um… I know I shouldn’t be getting involved with this, but is it really so troublesome that Alm has decided to fight in the arena?” For real? “I have seen him sparring before, young he may be, but he is no slouch.”

It was kind of unbelievable to hear what she was saying.

Sure, Himmel understood that arenas were also something that existed in Jugdral, but… Deirdre so far seemed pretty against violence of any kind. Hell, she would get worried at simple training sometimes, so this just felt strange.

Though maybe this was just her showing her true colors. Only a little glimpse of it, but nonetheless, that little glimpse was ugly.

Ugly enough that everyone, with the exception of Julia, was looking at her with a face that just screamed judgement.

Noticing this, it was only natural she backed up. “I’m sorry, as I said, I know I shouldn’t involve myself in this. Please don’t get angry at me, Himmel.” Did she really have to apologize to him specifically?

It was only natural he would feel bad after such words, especially when she began looking like a scared puppy. “I’m not angry or anything, it’s just that—”

Before he could continue, Julia intervened. “If I may interject, I just want to clarify something.” She cleared her throat. “Mother, I don’t know how much you know about the arenas of Archanea, but…”

Deirdre tilted her head. “Is there something wrong with them?” She puffed up her chest, a little bit of pride seeping through. “All I know is that Jugdral’s arenas are quite wonderful! I was even champion occasionally!” That sounded unbelievable. “Sigurd basically used them as training spots, with how useful they were.” That also sounded unbelievable.

A little bit less than the first claim though, since it was coming from the head of his conqueror father. That kind of sounded like a training plan a super warmonger would come up with.

“Mother…” Julia blushed. “I am at a loss of words on how to tell you this, but… the arenas of Archanea are a lot more brutal than those found in our homeland. Deaths are not… uncommon, from what I hear, they don't even have healers on standby.” On the side, Clair was nodding, confirming Julia’s words.

And just like that, Deirdre went from confused, to terrified. “What!? That’s horrible! We have to take that young man away from that place!” 

Cultural differences sure were scary.



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“No.”

Celica glared at the man. “What do you mean, no?”

The receptionist sighed. “Look, lady, I get that you’re worried, but we won’t take the kid away from the Arena in the middle of a fight.” The man pinched his nose, and began mumbling to himself. “It’s always the same goddamned thing…”

That was an interesting choice of words. Himmel imagined there were many people who sneakily signed for the Arena, and then once their family members learned of it, a mess was started.

“You…!” It was a rare occurrence to see Celica angry.

Himmel didn’t want her to blow up on the man, a shouting match was not what they needed. So he went to back up his queen. “We understand, more or less. Tell me though, may I sign up for the arena then?” He immediately received horrified looks from his companions.

But his plan was simple. He would join in for today to try and protect Alm, and then the next day they would never show up again.

In fact, his plan was so simple that the receptionist saw through it. “Fights in the Arena aren’t wars, my lord. It’s mostly one versus one, so if your plan is to help your friend, I ask that you forget it. Not to mention how we cannot add more fighters in the middle of a match.” Huh? He sure sounded a lot more respectful now.

He… he didn’t see Celica as a noble, but saw Himmel as one. Even though Celica was actual royalty. 

It was a good thing Celica was a humble girl. If she was anyone else, there was a chance a fight would break out right here and now due to pride—

“I am going to kill you!” Clair was not humble, Clair just saw her queen get insulted.

This day kept getting worse and worse…



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The Arena was split in five sections.

It reminded Himmel of a roman colosseum, though funnily enough, the Arena was more inclusive. It went more or less like this: The highest part of the Arena was one where tickets could be bought for fairly cheap, and as such attendance mostly constituted of your average commoner.

The second section, a bit closer to the ground, was more expensive to attend. Still, it was accessible by commoners, so one would mostly find merchants amongst its crowd. The third section meanwhile was even closer to the spectacle, and only available to those who were part of the military, and apparently free tickets were occasionally given.

The fourth section then, was one where only nobles and high ranking members of the military could attend. Tickets were completely free too, probably because the Arena expected to drain money from these people through sponsorships and the like.

The fifth section was found in a special area of the fourth section, and only the king, his family, and people with certain special permission could attend. Using the Colosseum as an example once more, it was the equivalent of the spot of the emperor.

Himmel had managed to snag tickets for the fourth section… out of looks alone. The power of clothing and genetics was something else, that was for sure. 

Thankfully, he was able to bring his friends in too, as servants… Except for Deirdre and Julia. Apparently they looked noble enough to enter as his mother and sister.

And now they were scanning the Arena, trying to find whatever spot Alm was in. They couldn’t drag him out of here, but Celica had decided that if they saw him getting hurt, she would jump in to help him, rules be damned.

The one who spotted him first was Clair, who had a bright blush on her face. “H-he’s there…” She was still embarrassed from the incident with the receptionist.

Himmel had to hold her back from hurting the poor man.

Celica glared at the spot, even as such a good section she was forced into squinting her eyes to see him. “So that’s where that idiot went…” Rage was oozing out of her body.

So Himmel tried bringing the tension down. “At least from what I can see he doesn’t look particularly hurt, and his opponent doesn’t look all that strong either.” It was a heavily armored man, one who carried around an impressive looking lance.

Which might sound scary, but apparently today was amateur day. There were no star athletes fighting today, so this armored guy was a newbie. Wearing that much armor just made it look like he was compensating for something.

Celica’s eye twitched in anger. “He better stay unhurt, so that I can hurt him later!” That was understandable.

As it was to be expected, Alm knocked the man on his ass and promptly won. His tactic of just taking the man head on was a bit too reckless for Himmel, but at the same time, he didn’t expect anything else from his childhood friend.

Alm had always fought like a living storm—

Himmel froze.

No, not just Himmel. Everyone froze. Commoners, soldiers, nobles… It didn’t matter. It was only normal to freeze in fear when an apex predator suddenly showed up. To let their survival instincts fail and drown completely in terror.

A dragon roared, and landed on the Arena.

Fear shrouded Himmel’s heart. His reaper was here, having come to collect an aberration of a soul that was supposed to have perished already. In that sense, the dragon was doing nothing wrong, simply correcting the course of events of this world.

The dead should not rise again. That was just common sense.

But if that was the case, then why had the dragon landed near Alm of all people? And why was the dragon… talking? Himmel couldn’t hear him, not from here, but the dragon was definitely talking. Not spewing hellish flames, not cutting everything with his claws, or creating hurricanes with his wings. Simply talking.

…Something was definitely wrong.

Before he could keep going on that road of thought, Deirdre took his hand. “Let’s get out of here.” She was the only one here who had probably seen real combat in her life. It was no shock that she snapped out of the dragon’s aura of terror before anyone else.

Besides, as a fully grown woman with Major Holy Blood, she might as well have been a dragon as well.

With her words, the rest of his party began calming down too. The most important one being Celica. “Yes, take Himmel out of here! I’ll go down there and help Alm!” She began barking orders.

Himmel however, took his hand away from Deirdre’s. “Wait, I’m going to help too!” He put a hand on the hilt of his sword, and drew it.

The nobles who had been standing nearby didn’t even look alarmed as the glow of silver presented itself. It was hard to care about a teenager who carried a sword around when a dragon was currently nearby.

“Do not act like your father now of all times!” Deirdre wouldn’t be intimidated though. Normally she was careful not to raise her voice around him, but apparently this moment was too dire for that.

Himmel snapped at her. “Forget about me, and go to Julia instead!” The girl was standing there, still more or less frozen.

But… someone had taken her hand. Not Deirdre, her mother, but Clair.

Even so, Deirdre was still trying to drag him out. “We are all getting out of here!”

Celica nodded. “Yes! Go now, Himmel! That is an order!” Ah, she was using her authority as a queen to order him. It was not something he could ignore, it was not something he should ignore.

He moved towards the edge of the Arena. “Go to hell with your order!” And jumped. 

She could bitch and moan at him later, Himmel would accept any punishment she deemed as deserved. For now though, he needed to save Alm before the dragon got tired of just talking.

Himmel soared through the air and landed with a roll. Had he been a normal person from Earth, even with a good landing he would have most likely broken a bone or two, and there would even be the possibility of death. Here though, with this body and its blood, he barely felt anything. The roll had probably been unnecessary.

What he failed to account for however, was that he was followed.

Celica jumped right after him, and knowing her, that had always been her plan. Worry did fill his heart, that she would get messed up in the fall and hurt herself, but… She landed just fine too. Even if she wasn’t a super genetic soldier, she was still a super soldier.

The other one had been Deirdre. Clair tried to hold her back, but that was only met with failure as Deirdre simply shoved her out of the way. The empress then fell into the Arena with a loss less grace than either Himmel or Celica, still, she seemed more or less fine.

So Himmel didn’t bother waiting for them, he simply kept dashing towards Alm. Alm, who had been his friend in this world pretty much from the first moment Himmel could remember. Alm, who had trained with Himmel from the very beginning. Alm who—

Looked pretty relaxed? Himmel hadn ‘t been able to notice it until he got closer, but Alm didn’t look as if he was trying to prepare himself for a fight.

In shock, Himmel stopped himself.

It was at that moment that the dragon shifted his massive head to look at them. “Oh? Tyr, Naga, and Mila… The previous two I can assume to be the Crusader’s spawn, but… Do you know them, child of Duma?”

Alm hesitantly nodded. “Um… yeah, those are my friends. Though… I have no idea what they’re here for.” Wasn’t it obvious!? And seriously, why was he acting so calm!?

It was a miracle that Himmel didn’t drop his sword right then and there. “What the— By the Mother’s name… what is going on here…!?”

Alm slowly pointed at the dragon. “This guy… invited me for dinner. Yeah.” Even Alm sounded like he didn’t believe it.

“Dinner…?” Celica had finally arrived at their location, she too froze.

Deirdre didn’t, mostly because she tackled Himmel, and then stood protectively over him. “I won’t…! I won’t let you have my baby!” She was confused too, but just to be sure she was acting as a shield.

…Himmel wasn’t a baby though. If anything, her standing in front of him was going to be a problem.

The dragon laughed. “Your baby, huh! Now that I take a good sniff, I can smell a bit of Naga in him too…” The dragon showed the most toothy grin Himmel had ever seen. “Screw it! You three are invited too! One must throw a banquet in situations like these, to not do so is just rude!”

Somehow, someway, they had scored a free meal. And by a miracle, they weren’t even the food.



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AN: Dragons are the best. Is a FE Game even a FE Game is there isn’t a playable Manakete?

Actually, Three Houses doesn't have a playable Manakete... and Engage didn’t either... And Fates' Manakete was the protag... Man, I hope the next game has a real one.

By the way, the best Manaketes are the super poweful ones that only get one stone for the whole game, like Fae in FE6. You know I'm right.